What is VET Student Loan Funding?
A VET Student Loan is a loan from the Australian Government that helps eligible students pay some or all of their tuition fees up to the VET Student Loan Cap limit which, for the HLT52021 Diploma of Remedial Massage, is currently set at:
$16,788 (2023)
The loan doesn’t cover additional costs such as textbooks, materials, or accommodation.
You must be aware that your loan remains a personal debt until it is repaid, and it may reduce your take-home (after tax) wage and your borrowing capacity. You may wish to seek independent financial advice before applying.
The minimum income threshold for repayment is set by the Commonwealth each year and is published on Study Assist in the VET Student Loans information booklet.
Centrelink benefits do not affect your eligibility or the loan amount you can access.
Q Academy receives the full loan amount for your course directly from the Government, and you repay your loan through the Australian taxation system once your income reaches a certain threshold.
Here is a Government checklist
Am I eligible?
To be eligible you must meet one of the citizenship requirements:
- be an Australian citizen, or
- hold an eligible permanent humanitarian visa and usually reside in Australia, or
- be a New Zealand citizen on Special Category Visa (SCV subclass 444) who meets the long term residency requirements.
- you first began living in Australia at least 10 years before applying for a VET Student Loan, and at that time, were a child under 18 years of age and did not have a spouse or de-facto partner, and
- you have been in Australia for at least eight of the 10 years immediately prior to applying and at least 18 months of the last two years.
To be eligible you must meet also meet all of the following requirements:
- have a tax file number (TFN) or be applying for one
- intend to undertake your course primarily in Australia
- not have exceeded your lifetime Commonwealth student loan limit, which is set each year by the Commonwealth
- have read the VET Student Loans information booklet.
- have given any requested documentation to Q Academy and submitted the Commonwealth loan application online form (eCAF) by the first census day
- no less than two business days after enrolling (see How do I apply)
- comply with ongoing Commonwealth engagement and progression requests to log on to complete their online student engagement form to confirm that
- you are a genuine student, continuing to study and the progress in your course. You will get these requests two or three times a year, depending on how
- long your course is. If you do not complete the form and survey within the required time, you may be ineligible to continue accessing VET Student Loans
- to pay for the remainder of your course tuition fees.
- meet the academic suitability requirement listed below.
- have a Commonwealth Higher Education Support Number (CHESSN)*
- have a Unique Student Identifier (USI)*
* these are able to be created upon enrolment with Q Academy
VET Student Loans Academic Suitability
To enrol under VSL you must meet one of the following academic suitability requirements;
- a copy of your Australian Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (year 12 Certificate) or
- evidence of successful completion of an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) Certificate IV or higher qualification (delivered in English)
If you do not have one of the above, Q Academy will give access to an approved Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN) test, to which you must be assessed as competent at Exit Level 3 in the Australian Core Skills Framework in both reading and numeracy.
How do I Apply
A VET Student Loan is an agreement between you and the Commonwealth Government. To apply for a VET Student loan you must meet all the loan eligibility requirements listed above.
- If you are accepted into a course, Q Academy will advise the Commonwealth that you wish to apply. Your loan application is separate to your enrolment with Q Academy and will be completed two business days following your enrolment.
The Commonwealth Government requires that there is a two day cooling off period between your enrolment with Q Academy and applying for a VET Student loan, therefore, you cannot apply for a VET Student Loan until 2 business days after you enrol but you must submit your loan application on or before your first census day for your course.
- Q Academy will advise the appropriate Australian Government department that you wish to apply for a VET Student Loan. That department will then email your log-on details and password to access the online loan application (eCAF).
- You must complete and submit your eCAF to the Commonwealth before your first census day. If you do not submit your eCAF by the census day, you will be liable for the tuition fees payable for that fee period.
A census day is the last day you can apply for a loan for the fees for that period, so make sure you complete your application promptly. A census day is also the last day you can withdraw without penalty.
- You will need to provide your valid Tax File Number (TFN) during this application process.
If you don’t have a TFN, you can apply at most Australia Post outlets. A valid Tax File Number means that the details you provide to Q Academy must match those held with the Australian Tax Office. If you provide an invalid tax file number, you will not be able to access a VET Student Loan for your tuition fees.
- Your course may cost more than the VET Student Loan Cap. If so, you will need to pay the difference (referred to as a gap) between the course fees and the VET Student Loan cap. You may be able to access a payment plan through Q Academy to help you pay the gap amount in instalments.
This information will be clearly provided prior to enrolment and a “Statement of Fees” provided which lists all amounts and dates.
- As with any loan you take, you must understand the terms and conditions before you make a commitment. You must read the VET Student Loan information available on StudyAssist, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations website for students and consider seeking independent financial advice.
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Ongoing VSL Obligations During Study
During your study, you may be contacted again by the Commonwealth to confirm your engagement and progression in your course and confirm that you wish to continue to use your VET Student Loan to pay your tuition fees for the course.
It is important that you advise Q Academy if any of your personal or contact details change during your study. Further information regarding the VET Student Loan engagement and progression process is available on the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business website. If you do not complete the engagement and progression process, you will not be able to continue access to a VET Student Loan for your tuition fees.
Students Under 18
There are no age restrictions to apply for a VET Student Loan. For students who are under 18, you must complete one of the following requirements:
- your parent or guardian must sign the Commonwealth’s parental consent form for your loan. This is available from your college or on the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business website. You must provide this form to your college before you can apply for a loan.
- if you are receiving Youth Allowance on the basis that you are independent, you must provide your Centrelink Income Statement noting your independent assessment.
Your parent or guardian will not be responsible for making loan repayments and it will not affect their credit rating.
Is a VET Student Loan available for my course and how much can I borrow?
VET Student Loans and are available for full-time, part-time and online study for courses listed on the VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) Determination 2016 that also identifies the maximum amount (cap) a student can borrow per course, which are all set by the Australian Government.
The HLT52021 Diploma of Remedial Massage course is taught be Q Academy and is on the VET Student Loans (Courses and Loan Caps) list with a Loan Cap of $16,788 for 2023.
How will my course fees be charged?
Tuition fees are charged by unit of study (refer to our Schedule of Tuition Fees) and your course will have four fee periods, with payments spread proportionately across the duration of your course.
Your course may cost more than the VET Student Loan Cap. If so, you will need to pay the difference (referred to as a gap) between the course fees and the VET Student Loan Cap prior to your first census day. You may be able to access a payment plan through Q Academy to help you pay the gap amount in instalments.
Once enrolled but prior to your first census day for your course, Q Academy will provide you with a Statement of Covered Fees confirming that your enrolment has been accepted and the amounts of the course tuition fees that will, and will not, be covered under a VET Student Loan.
In addition to the Statement of Covered Fees, you will receive a VET Student Loan Fee Notice at least 14 days before each census day that will show you the amount of tuition fees that will, and will not, be covered under a VET Student Loan for that particular fee period.
Your debt is incurred on the day after the census day.
If you withdraw your enrolment on or before the census day, you will not incur the tuition fees for that fee period. This applies to fees covered by the VET Student Loan and any gap or upfront fees paid for that fee period.
After the census day has passed and you have submitted your Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF), Q Academy will send you a Commonwealth Assistance Notice (CAN) that provides you with further information about your debt. If you believe your CAN is incorrect, you should contact Q Academy immediately.
Managing your loan
VET Student Loans fee notice/ VET Student Loans statement of covered fees
Before each census date you will receive a VET Student Loans fee notice/VET Student Loans Statement of Covered Fees showing your contact details, student identification number, CHESSN, the tuition fees for each unit of study you have enrolled in, the amount that will be covered by the loan, the census date on which you will incur a debt and if applicable, the loan fee.
You must check each detail on the notice carefully and advise your Q Academy campus if there are any errors before the census date.
Commonwealth assistance notice
After the census date for the units has passed, you will receive a Commonwealth Assistance Notice confirming the amount of VET debt you have incurred and any amounts that you have already paid toward these tuition fees.
Withdrawing from your course or units of study
If you wish to change or withdraw from your course, or if you wish to withdraw from some units, you need to contact your Q Academy campus to complete the relevant forms.
If you make these changes before the relevant census date of your units of study, the tuition fees will be cancelled and any relevant tuition fee amounts you have paid will be refunded.
If you make these changes after the census date, the tuition fees that have been added to your VET debt under VET Student Loans cannot be cancelled and have to be repaid as normal. If there were special circumstances preventing you from acting before the census date, please read the relevant section in VET Student Loans – Information for Students (https://docs.education.gov.au/node/41951).
Checking your help records and balance
You can view your VET student loan debt records and balances online by one of the following methods as outlined by the Australian Government.
Log in to myUniAssist (https://app.heims.education.gov.au/myuniassist/Forms/Logon.aspx). You will need your Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number (CHESSN) to log in. Your CHESSN is shown the Commonwealth Assistance Notice attached.
Log in to the myGov website. To access this online service, please refer to the instructions on the ATO website (https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Study-and-training-support-loans/)
Call the ATO on 13 28 61. You will have to advise the ATO of your tax file number (TFN) before they will disclose any personal information to you.
If you require further information or assistance with accessing a VET Student Loan, please contact Q Academy on 1300 20 40 80
VET student loans policies
List of Census Days and Variations
Click this link that will take you to the census days for all of our courses. These census days are determined for a course, or a part of a course, and are published before enrolment in a course or part of a course. We will also publish any variations to census days as soon as the census day is varied. This information will also be provided to students as a statement of fees when enrolling in an approved course with Q Academy.
Link to folder with Census Dates and Variations
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